Nobody knew that one day you _________ be rich.

Solution (By Examveda Team)

Step 1: Identify the tense (time) of the sentence
The sentence says "Nobody knew". The word "knew" is in the past tense. So, we are talking about something that happened in the past.
When we talk about the past, we need to use past forms of words.

Step 2: What are the options?
A) can B) could C) will D) would

Step 3: Understanding the options
"can" -> "Can" is used to show ability (like "I can swim") or possibility (like "It can rain tomorrow"). It is for present or future, but it doesn’t work in this sentence because we're talking about a past situation and something that was uncertain in the future. So, "can" is not correct here.

"could" -> "Could" is the past form of "can," and we use it to talk about ability or possibility in the past. For example, "I could swim when I was a child." But in this sentence, we are talking about something that might happen in the future, from a past point of view. We are not talking about ability in the past, but about something that was uncertain in the future. So, "could" doesn’t sound right in this situation, because we need something to talk about the future, not just possibility in the past.

"will" -> "Will" is used when we talk about something that will happen in the future. It’s the most common way to talk about the future. But since the sentence begins with "Nobody knew" (which means we’re talking about the past), we shouldn’t use "will." We need a word that reflects the past looking at the future, so "will" is not correct.

"would" -> "Would" is the past form of "will." We use "would" when we talk about something that was expected, hoped, or believed to happen in the future from the perspective of the past.
In this sentence, "Nobody knew" is talking about the past, and the sentence is talking about something that was uncertain in the future. So we need to use "would" because we are talking about the future from the past.

Step 4: Why "would" is correct
"Would" is the correct answer because it helps us show that, in the past, people didn’t know that something would happen in the future.
The phrase "Nobody knew" is in the past. So, when we want to talk about something in the future that was not known or certain in the past, we use "would."

Final sentence: "Nobody knew that one day you would be rich."
This means that in the past, people didn’t know that, at some point in the future, you would become rich.